4th Pan African Conference Lome, Togo

4TH PAN AFRICAN CONFERENCE LOME, TOGO

THE REPORT OF THE 4TH PAN AFRICAN CONFERNCE
PRESENTED TO NEC/NST, CATHOLIC
CHARISMATIC RENEWAL OF NIGERIA (CCRN) AT HER MEETING OF FRIDAY 7TH
SEPTEMBER 2018 AT THE NATIONAL SERVICE CENTRE (NSC) UBULU-UKU, DELTA STATE.

Preamble

The 4th Pan African Conference, the highest
in the series of gathering of members of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal from
across African was held in Lome the capital of the Republic of Togo a small but
vibrant West African francophone country from Monday 6th to Sunday
the 12th of August 2018 at the National Conference Centre of Lome.
The Pan African Conference is aimed at creating an avenue of prayer for
interaction amongst peoples that have experienced the charismatic spirituality
in Africa and as well help to evolve a structure for the development of the
Renewal in the continent. The Conference however started with the youth meeting
which comprised of youth delegates from across Africa from Friday 3rd
to Sunday 5th August 2018 while the conference proper commenced on
the 6th through to the 12th August 2018.

Theme:

The Congress theme was: “I will put my Spirit within
you and you shall live again” Ezekiel 36: 27-30. This is a call to individuals,
groups and communities to eternalize the Pentecost experience for personal
sanctification and evangelization of the continent of Africa.

Departure and Arrival at Lome

The Nigeria contingent of fifty seven (57) members
including the NST Chairman, the National Chaplain Rev Fr. Alphonsus Ozoemena OP
and members of the executive council departed
from St Leo’s Catholic Church Ikeja Parish on the morning of Monday 6th
August 2018 for the Republic of Togo en route the Republic of Benin by road.
The journey was smooth but for some delays owing to boarder crossing modalities,
we give God all the glory for a safe and eventful journey that brought all
contingent to their hotel in Lome around 9:00pm same day. Meanwhile the youths
that went for Pan African Youth meeting, the AFSCI Vice Chairman and Anglophone
West African Coordinator, represented Nigeria during the opening celebration
for the flag-off and recognition of countries present at the conference.

Venue

The venue of the Conference was the Conference Centre
Lome equivalent to Nigeria national theatre in Lagos it has a capacity to
accommodate three thousand (3,000) participants. The venue is a fully air
conditioned theatre beautifully decorated in the colours of the Republic of
Togo, The stage was the centre of attraction it was adored with a beautifully
decorated altar and a giant but colourful banner at the background depicting the
Conference. The Conference Centre was fully occupied and filled, throughout the
duration of the programme. The venue was just adequate for the conference.

Resource Persons and Messages

The first message of the Conference was given by Nicodeme Barrigah-Benissan a Bishop from
Togo with the topic “individual
conversion a necessity for the birth of a new Africa” the core of the
message centred on the need for all Charismatic to eternalize the gospel and
this will serve as the springboard for the evangelization of Africa. The second
message was taken by Mr Alumasi Joseph
from Uganda with the topic “Brotherly
love baseline for Africa to develop” where he noted that Africa has lost
the basis of her family bond and love, he noted that the bond of Christ that
binds us together transcends that of tribe, gender, language and country.
Africa must realise this, he emphasised before she can actually develop and
move forward. The third message taken by Rev
Fr Desire Agbetohofrom Mali he actually took the
conference theme “I will put my Spirit
within you and you shall live” he talked about the actions of the Holy
Spirit in the church yesterday and today, he noted that we can truly live when
we propagate the gospel and love of Christ. As we do this, he stressed the love
of God will be made manifest in our lives by making us better and beautiful
people. The forth message is with the topic “Personal experience of Pentecost for a more dynamic church in our
country” was taken by the ICCRS President
Mr Jim Murphy from USA. He noted that we cannot achieve communal Pentecost without
individual or personal Pentecost, Pentecost experience starts with an
individual. He admonished that all should endeavour to achieve personal
Pentecost and ultimately our communities will experienced this since a
community and societies are congregation of individuals. He subsequently led a
prayer session for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit on participants; it
was a wonderful experience in the presence of the most High God. The AFSCI president Mr Jean Christophe Sakiti
took the fifth message with the topic “We
are sent by the Spirit to announce the Good News to all creation” in his
message he buttress how it is the desire of our Lord Jesus Christ that all renewal
members receive the Holy Spirit and be His witness all over the world, He
stressed that we believers limit ourselves in achieving this mandate of Christ
because we have not fully surrendered and equally dependent sorely on the Holy
Spirit for empowerment and grace.

The forth day of the conference witnesses the sharing
of participants into four major groups for messages specifically for various
categorizations: The groups are: The Family, Youth, Priests and the Religious. Dr Edo Olotu from Nigeria ministered to
the family group with he topic “Family,
place and path of sanctification” he noted that the family is an
institution ordained by God thus God
expects us to depend on Him to succeed in marriage, husband and wife should
always respect and forgive each other because marriage is a space for
forgiveness. He admonished parents to bring up their children in the way of the
Lord by teaching them basic and sound Christian
principles and getting them involved in their local church, through this the
family is sanctified. RevFr Chanel Affognon from Togo took the
youths on the topic “The youth and the
new world order” the priest admonished the youth not to conform themselves
to the prevalent social decadence in our present society but should preserve
and conform themselves to the divine order of Jesus Christ and only in Him can
they attain true greatness and success. Rev
FrDesire Agbetohofrom Mali also took the priests on the topic
‘Burning in the pastoral work with the
Holy Spirit, life in the Holy Spirit and mission, while Monsignor Isaac Gaglo from Togo took
the religious on the topic ‘Baptism in
the Holy Spirit and inner life.The
seventh message was delivered by Professor
IsaacUkpokolo from Nigeria with
the topic “Financial means for
evangelization in our prayer groups and communities” he emphasised that we
do not need to organise big spiritual programmes to raise money for the running
of renewal but must teach our members to give sacrificially. He noted that “it’s
not what one gives but what one is holding back”. He admonished that if we give
sacrificially like the widow who gave a mite joyfully, grace shall abound. He
concluded that leaders should not use the group’s money for personal aggrandizement
but rather for the general good of the group because God will hold them
accountable. The eight message was given by Mr Cyril John the intercessory ministry leader at ICCRS on the
topic: “Prayer for the revival of
Africa, let’s pray for the restoration of Africa” he noted that African
despite her potentials is impoverished and backward because she is bedevilled with
so many problems which can be surmounted and the current narratives, can also
change through what he termed “strategic
intercession”. He likened strategic intercession to a remote controlled inter-continental
ballistic missile that can destroy with precession the enemy’s camp and change
the destiny of a nation for good. He called all renewal members to the world of
intercession and prophesy so that the dry bones in the valley of death as in the
book of Ezekiel 37: 1-14 can live again. The
Stations of the Cross procession followed after launch. Buses were used to
convey participants to the Cathedral about three (3) kilometres from the venue
of the conference; this is where the procession started from. It was as if the
whole city of Lome was shut down for Christ, the procession was massive and by
the time the Stations of the Cross was concluded at the conference venue, the
size of people that participated had more than tripled. The whole of Africa was
prayed for, it was simply grandiose.

There was an executive
meeting of professionals, politicians andbusiness men with Cardinal Peter K.A. Turkson from Rome. The ninth
message was given by ICCRS president Mr
Jim Murphy with the topic “Rekindling
the flame of the Spirit in our groups and communities: life in our groups and
communities” he noted that it is not our duty as humans to give the flame
but that of God, notwithstanding it’s our to rekindle this, God gives us the
flame that the gospel be preached all over the world, through personal and
collective fanning of the flame. He advised that we sustain the flame through
engaging ourselves in constant spiritual exercises in the company of God’s
people. Mr Oresta Pesare the director of
ICCRS from Rome gave the tenth message which is a video clip on the message
of the Holy father for the Charismatic Renewal, he stressed that the Pope sees
the Charismatic Renewal as not a movement but a current of grace in the church
because it has no founder, he reported that the holy father advices that
Christians all over the world should close ranks for the blood of Christians
are being shed daily all over the world, the persecutors do not regard
denominations but the basic question persecutors of Christians ask is : “are
you a Christian” ? Thus we Christians should under play those things that
divide us and lay emphasis on “Jesus is Lord” our faith and binding factor and
fight the good fight of faith. The Papas message by Mr Oresta Pesare rounded
off the activities inside the Conference Centre, members were then asked to
shift to town for a crusade aimed at evangelisation. The day which was Saturday
11th 2018 was rounded off with a well organised and elaborate dinner
at a hotel at down town Lome. All messages were translated in both French and
English and participants listened through their phones on channel 90.0 of Radio
Maria a radio station in Togo and the designated radio station for the
conference.

Conference Organisation

Security

The presence of some un-armed police officers were
visible outside and around the conference centre, participants’ conference bags
were searched by members of security sub committee at the main entrance of the
conference centre. There was no visible security breach throughout the
conference, participants and the general populace were very orderly throughout
the Stations of the Cross procession through the town of Lome. Police had to
stop traffic at every junction for procession to go on unhindered while the
general populace were very cooperative, patient and orderly.

Time Management

Time management is a determinant factor in assessing
the success or otherwise of a programme and if what transpired at the 4th
Pan African Conference is anything to go by, the organisers did excellently
well. The programme each day starts on schedule, praise and worship with
prayers at their appointed time, the resource persons were made to be time
conscious and are issued reminders whenever necessary, I can say virtually all resource
persons received this reminders even some protested. Participants had their
lunch at the due time because time was effectively managed between messages.
Most evening participants by 7:45pm would have been on their way out of the venue
to have their dinner at the four court of the conference venue and by 8:00pm to
8:30pm most participants would have been in their hotel rooms. It is also
worthy to note that this was probably achieved because the conference was not
crowded with messages which gave room for some flexibility for relaxation of
participants, this is worthy of emulation.

Feeding / Accommodation

Two big tents were mounted at both sides of the four
courts of the conference centre, with well arranged tables and chairs, this
served as the dinning hall for participants at the conference. On arrival
participants were given a meal ticket each and on close look at theses tickets
one can simple conclude that four caterers will be in charge of feeding of
participants. The meal tickets were named after four saints a participant will
therefore have to approach the caterer that bears the name on his or her meal
ticket for a meal package since feeding had been incorporated into the
conference registration. Though four caterers were engaged they served the same
type of cuisine for each meal which comprise of French and local delicacies,
prominent amongst these are French bread, leaves salad with cream, difference
types of local rice and mainly fish and chicken. Most of us from Nigeria had to
do with this but thank God we had a caterer in our hotel that prepared Nigeria
delicacies for our breakfast and dinner. Participants were well fed and the Saturday
dinner was the icing on the cake. The hotel accommodation for participants from
Nigeria was relatively manageable members stayed two (2) in a room. Participants were conveyed from
their hotel to the conference venue in two Coaster buses and back each day made
the programme more soothing.

PAS / Praise and Worship
Sessions

The importance of a good public address system in the
success of a programme with the magnitude of the Pan African Conference cannot
be over emphasised, every word from the stage could be heard distinctively
across the hall. The PAS system used was of a high quality and this actually
helped participants to appreciate and enjoy the praise and worship sessions. The
praise and worship ministry were at her best rendering inspiring and melodious
tunes to the glory of God, worthy to note is how they were able to renders
songs in English and French and other languages carrying all participants
along.: Yoruba song was even rendered. The dance gesture and smiles of members
of this ministry attracted attention, most especially a sister who stood out as
she demonstrated the passion she has for her ministry and her charming smiles,
won the admiration and love of so many participants. The instrumentalists were
professional as they key into different tunes effortlessly, in all about
eighteen (18) of them ministered including instrumentalist, the ministry did
marvellously well they exhibited maturity and class.

Eucharistic Celebrations
(Mass)

A mass was celebrated each day of the conference, the
array of bishops from different African countries actually blessed all participants
at the conference, some masses were said
in French and some in English, many priests were in attendance to distribute
communion and equally gave helping hands to the bishops in the Eucharistic
celebrations. There was also an opportunity for participants who wanted to go
to confession to do this as many priest were at hand to minister the sacrament,
there was obvious challenge as most of the priests were from Togo and could
only communicate in French. This discouraged so many of our members from fully
taking this opportunity to go to this sacrament during the conference. Worthy
to note that Cardinal Peter K.A. Turkson from Rome also celebrated mass

Moderation

It was observed that the moderation of the entire
conference was done by just a sister, who started the moderation at the opening
ceremony of the conference through all the activities at the conference centre also
concluded it at the open air crusade at evangelization. One would have expected
that participating African countries could have been given slots to moderate
some parts of the programme this would have given theses countries a sense of
belonging and make the conference moderation more robust, inclusive and
interesting.

Challenges

Communication was a major challenge at the conference,
judging from the translations of the messages delivered in French into English.
The translators were not very proficient in English thus could not, most of the
time keep with the pace of the messages being delivered. One dose not need to
be a prophet to know that vital information in most of these messages was lost in
view of poor translation to those listening through the radio channel. On
another hand, the 90.0 channel would be off for some moments by which vital
information and messages would have been lost to most of us listening to
English translation through the radio channel. It is almost certain that our
francophone counterparts would have experienced same while listening in French translations
of messages delivered in English. Professional linguist cum translators should
have been engaged for proper translation of messages and proceedings.

The effects of poor communication between the
francophone and Anglophone countries at the conference greatly undermine the
aim of the conference to foster good interaction amongst members; it was
observed that there was great hindrance to effective interaction of members
because of poor understanding of English by francophone participants and
vice-versa. Most participants across the divide had to result to sign language
to communicate during the conference and this is not good enough, members
should therefore endeavour to have basic knowledge of both English and French languages
to aid an appreciable level of communication.

Departure / Conclusion:

The Nigeria contingent to the conference left Lome on
Sunday 12th August after attending a Sunday mass and arrived Nigeria
around 3:00pm same day. It was a beautiful Pan African Conference and kudos
should be given to the organisers for putting up a wonderful conference and to
the Almighty God for granting the grace for Nigeria to be part of this great
gathering of Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Africa. The next Pan African
Conference will hold in four (4) years and Nigeria is slated to host.